DREAM COI{TEAIT OF SCHIZOPHREMC, NONSCHIZOPHREMC MENTALLY ILL, AND COMMLINITY COIVTROL ADOLESCENTS Jack Hadjez, Daniel Stein, Uri Gabbay, Judith Bruckner, Sorin Meged, Yoram Barak, Avner Elizur, Abraham Weizman, and Vadim S. Rotenberg ABSTRACT This study compared the manifest dream content of 20 schizophrenic adoles- cent inpatients whose medications were stable for at least iour weeks, 21 adole_sce-nt inpatients with other mental disorders (nonschizophrenic group) matched for age and gender, and 31 matched community controls. att pirtici- pants were administered the standardized Formal Dream content Rating Scale (FDCRS), which evaluates dream-related anxiety, cognitive disturbance] implausibility, involvement, primitivity, and recall, as *ult as two additionai scales measuring emotional expression and duration of dream report. The Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS) was administered to the two inpatient groups. The community controls demonstrated more involvement and emotional expression than the schizophrenic patients; furthermore, they demonstrated more implausibility and had a greatLr duration of dream report compared with the nonschizophrenic group. In the schizophrenic patients only, elevated scores on the negative subscale of the pANSS were sigrrificantly corrl- lated with lower scores on involvement, emotional expressioi, and dream re- call. No relationship was found between the positive subscale of the pANSS and any ofthe FDCRS subscales. These results suggest that psychopathology per se, rather than the specific psychiatric disturbance, may be associated witir impoverishment of dream content, and that negative, ,uthu" than positive, schizophrenic symptomatology may be influential in the dream cotnt oi schizophrenic youngsters. V Psychoanalytic and psychodynamic literature has identified various functions of dream content. Freud (19b8) claimed that dreams serve as a medium for the discharge of conflict and impulses in a more subtle, _ Ju9\ Hadjez, Shaar MenasheMental Health Center, Shaar Menashe,Israel; Daniel stein and uri Gabbay,sheba Medical center, Tel Hashomer, israel*j Judith Bruckner, sorin Meged, Yoram Barak, Avner Elizur, and vadim s. Rotenberg, Abrabanel Mental Health center, Bat yam, Israel*; Abraham weizman, Geha Mental Health center and Felsenstein Medical Research cen- ter, Rabin Medical campus, Petah riqwa, Israel* (*affiliated with the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel). ^ leuests for reprints should be sent to Daniel stein, pediatric Department c (P_ediatric Psychosomatic-Department), The chaim Sh"bu M"di.ai center, Tel Hashomer, 52621,Israel. E-mail: dstein@netvision.net.il ADOLESCENCE,VoL 38, No. 150, Summer 2005 Libra Publishers,Inc.,3O8gC Clairemnnt Dr., pMB S8J, So,n Diego,CA g21tz